ESSAY The Shah of Venezuela Who exactly is Hugo Chavez, and what does he mean for the political culture of Latin America? A close look at the unexpected intellectual origins of Venezuela's socialist caudillo, and an explanation of why we must take this buffoon seriously.

Ruth Franklin

38

BOOKS Night and Cog

The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell, translated by Charlotte Mandell

Lia Purpura

41

POEM Art

David Thomson

43

BOOKS Wishin' and Mopin' Dusty!: Queen of the Postmods

by Annie J. Randall

Dan Pagis

44

POEM Ararat, translated by Leon Wieseltier

David A. Bell

45

BOOKS Becoming France Children of the Revolution: The French, 1799-1914 by Robert Gildea